Hearing set for proposed cab fare hike

Taxi drivers say new city regulations curbing their take-home pay

Chicago cabbies will finally get to make their case to aldermen for a fare increase after months of complaining that new city taxi regulations are heaping additional costs on them.

The City Council's transportation committee will hold the fare increase hearing July 31, the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection announced Friday.

The hearing was expected — Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, the transportation panel's chairman, pledged to hold one after the regulations took effect July 1.

Among the new cab rules was a change by the city to make permanent a $1 fuel surcharge.

Cabbies have argued that did little to help them. The surcharge kicked in when the price of gas exceeded $3.20 per gallon for a week, so it had been in effect continuously for two years. And cabdrivers said other new regulations, among them an increase in the cost of cab leases, add up to a sharp reduction in their take-home pay.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been noncommittal about a fare hike. In a news release announcing the hearing date, the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection said the new $3.25 "flag pull" in Chicago is higher than that in New York or Boston. But those two cities have a higher per-mile rate than Chicago.

The United Taxidrivers Community Council has called for a series of Monday morning rush-hour taxi strikes until the city grants a fare increase. The first one was last Monday. The taxi group said there was only a fraction of the normal number of cabs downtown, but city business affairs officials said taxi service was normal citywide all week.